SB: Business Bank Accounts

ukbill69

abbey, free business banking for life, not 12 months or 6 months.

star1_2

I'm WIth Abbey - they provide a basic no frills service (and were rather slow to set the account up), but the best thing (as others have mentioned) is that the service is FREE (providing you work it within the restrictions - ie. use the cashpoints for everything).

I'm quite happy and will be sticking with them !

:cool:

bargainhunt_3

I'd agree with Star1. I opened an account with Abbey in August. Like many of these cheaper options it was all carried out by post and phone but went surprisingly smoothly. The while process took about 2-3 weeks, from application to receipt of cards and cheque books.

So far I've had to wait at most 10 minutes for my calls to be answered, and usually its around 3, so I can't complain. Also the staff have been very helpful with any queries I have had. You can even check the saynoto0870 website if you want to find out how to avoid paying the 0845 rates :-)

I would say Abbey is ideal if your business is not handling large volumes of cash and has no requirements for complex banking transactions. In my case the most complex is international payments, which does require some paper work but hopefully should work when set up.

natanddan1

I am launching a new business within the next few weeks, most of my fee payments will be in the form of credit card / cheques, can anyone help with info on how to set up credit card transactions.

regards
natanddan1

:: Website removed - FM ::

star1_2

Your choices are to either become a "merchant" which involves paying a registration fee, then a % of each transaction (Good if you will be doing a faily high number of CC/DC transactions) or alternativly avoid the registration fee but pay a slightly higher % of the transation - by using someone like Worldpay.

Hope that helps.

:cool:

lush_walrus

I use Abbey too, as others have said they are very no frills, but Ive never had a problem with them in 5 years of being with them.

buglawton

natanddan1 wrote:

I am launching a new business within the next few weeks, most of my fee payments will be in the form of credit card / cheques, can anyone help with info on how to set up credit card transactions.

If you have a serious business plan and can get a reasonable credit check, then try phoning http://www.adelantesoftware.com who can arrange a deal with the Bank of Ireland. I am told by them that you do not NEED a commercial Bank Account to link the Merchant Service to. You get a Virtual Terminal (secure Web Page at your end) to do Customer Not Present Phone Transactions. Expect sign-up to take some weeks.

If you need to have online payments by the Customer then something like Worldpay will be needed in addition. You could do worse than simply hook up a http://www.mals-e.com/ Shopping Basket (free) to a NOCHEX or PAYPAL account (fees).

BEWARE of the Cheque fraud attempts you will get if your Website is visited a lot. People (offering a high value order) will want to send a carrier to collect the goods (or have them sent to a forwarder) on Cheque clearance and will not be able to prove their UK contact details to you. The cheque may be on a real co. or person, will appear to clear but then will turn out to be stolen or a forgery.

fitorbust

I have just set up a Streamline Merchant account independent to my A&L Business account. They wanted a set up fee to start with, but after a few calls brought it down to zero with switch/debit card for 18p ( from 30p), visa etc 1.5% ( from 2.2%) and monthly rental of £19.95. Overall a good deal and far better than the others I was offered. A&L are good for business banking - another no frills service, but you speak to someone in Liverpool when you ring ( a bonus), and on line banking is not bad. I was with HSBC til this year until they hiked up their charges by around 300%.....

buglawton

Looks good for a larger merchant. The Bank of Ireland deal I signed up for works out with slightly higher percentages but only £6 'rental' per month. This includes Virtual Terminal for CNP and Mobile Sales transaction fees up to that value (really a minimum fee spend). Am promised 4 days to transfer CC/DC payments into Current Account.

bargainhunt_3

Buglawton, that sounds like a good deal I may investigate it in future. How have you found their customer service etc?